Saturday June 1, 2019

A Escravitude to Santiago de Compostela, Spain; 33,973 steps

Proverbs 17 

v. 22a  A cheerful heart is good medicine….  And we have two cheerful hearts, for we have finished our Camino and gotten our compostelas!  The sun did not broil away our cheerful hearts.  All day we could see the newly cleaned white stone of the cathedral facade in the brightness of the relentless sun, and feel the stone blocks of the Praza do Obradoiro in the rocks and cobbles under our feet.  Our cheerful hearts carried us on until it was reality.  Thank you, Jesus.

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It was still dark at our 6:30 am alarm.  We made breakfast from old bread in the lunch bag, a single-serving packet of jelly, the indulgent butter I carry, the surprisingly good packaged pastries from the tobacco shop and plenty of orange juice from the one-liter carton.

We were out at eight.  The squishy morning rays of sun lay low and saffron across luxuriant fields and tumbles of houses.  The soft still air was in the fifties.  Maurice suggested we walk fast while we could.  Our path wound along little lanes and out of town a back way.  Dirt trails interspersed with stretches of stone led through a fern-filled forest.  Here and there calla lilies still bloomed. 

Lately we’ve aimed for ten by ten—ten thousand steps by 10 am.  Today only Maurice made it.  He always measures more steps than me.  He says his steps are shorter but I know it’s because his device doesn’t measure steps at all but arm swings.

By stone walls and orderly gardens on stony paths we trod.  The sun was climbing, its color dimming to pale yelow cream.  The temperature was rising.  But today we were not weak wimps.  We were determined and cheerful pilgrims pressing on.  We sat in the shade for a quick snack.

The sun had become a diamond, hard and hot, in the cobalt furnace of the day.  We drank our final coke in a little shop’s tiny terrace next to a fan, then continued our surprisingly pleasant walk into the city of Santiago.  We only had about two and a half kilometers of urban streets to negotiate as, like mad dogs and Englishmen, we made our final approach to the cathedral in the midday heat (33 C).  Soon we were walking along the busy pedestrian lane Rua Franco, threading our way past cafe tables, signboards and windows full of octopus, squid and crustaceans.  Almost there!  We spotted the tower of the cathedral above the jumble and stopped for a picture. 

At 1:30 we walked onto the wide plaza filled with pilgrims already arrived, weddings about to start and ordinary tourists.  Hallelujah!  We made it!  But the sun, blazing ceaselessly from on high these recent days and still roasting the air, had not quite gotten around to lighting up the west facade of the cathedral to give us the perfect backdrop for photos of our exuberant arrival.

We headed to the pilgrim office and waited an hour in line to get our compostelas.  So many pilgrims!  Maurice’s examiner asked about the spiritual variant, but mine didn’t and I forgot to mention it, so Maurice’s distance certificate says he walked 20 kilometers farther than I did—which you can be sure I will correct on mine later.

I had heard of the Pilgrim House Welcome Center (pilgrimhousesantiago.com) and wanted to go there next.  Maurice located it not far from the cathedral.  Founded and run by Faith (from Maryland) and Nate who’ve made their home in Santiago for some years, the Pilgrim House encourages pilgrims to reflect on their journey, as well as helps to meet pilgrims’ practical needs.  Friendly young volunteers from Azusa Pacific University gave us a warm welcome and ice water.  Faith was there too; she said her husband has met Alfonso, though she has not yet.  She also said Roy Uprichard (author of the Stone and Water book) had been in a few weeks ago.  We took off our packs and stayed awhile.  While Maurice got our bus tickets printed, tried to find our hotel on a map and chatted, I participated in a Camino debrief with half a dozen other pilgrims, led by Faith.  She used photographic images to guide our discussion of what our lives felt like before the Camino, how our lives feel now, any spiritul moments we wanted to share and what concerns we might have about returning to our everyday lives.  During the discussion almost everyone was brought to tears at some point that touched a deep place within.

Maurice and I were past tired.  It was a long and circuitous walk to our hotel in a newer part of the city.  I think Maurice picked it because it’s near the bus station.  It wasn’t expensive but we had a big room with a sitting area and a refrigerator.  I guess we’re not pilgrims anymore.  Of course there was no air conditioning, though, and it was hot.  Right down the nondescript street was a Domino’s pizza.  It was a clean and cheery store with a helpful English-speaking young woman to take the orders.  I was the only customer. Our large pizza was ready in less than fifteen minutes.  I took it to our room and we ate the whole thing.  In our jammies.  Best. Pizza. Ever.